. >> well, you know, that was the rap against william cohen. if you remember, a republican who served under the president -- democratic administration of president clinton. now, if people here in the building say, look, you know, chuck hagel would be fine for us, including military uniformed service members because they understand, as you just pointed out, that the white house is going to be pulling the strings, turning the screws no matter who is the secretary of defenses. republican or democrat. i do want to set the record straight a little bit on this debate over the surge. now, senator hagel in the confirmation hearing said that 1,200 americans were killed during the 18-month surge operation. that's true. 1,200 americans died, but the actual number of combat deaths was 942. what's important to point out is that the 12 months before the surge began the total number of service members killed in iraq was 820. now, this is the most important figure i think if you are going to argue was the surge a success or not? that is the fact that the 12-mo